Welcome to TechnoCat Teens and assignment

This is the public blog of the Computer Science class at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia. We will write and share what we learn with those who are interested.

We've spent the week studying new methods of interfacing with computers in our "New Way to Be Human" Assignment. 

Our blog post assignment is as follows:

Topic: The Future of Technology

1) Summarize your technology and Embed your slideshare or Animoto (100-150 words)
2) Why is this technology important (50 words)
3) How will it impact:  A) culture and how we live? (100 words), B) Government and Politics (100 words)
4) Using what you learned in the presentations: predict the future of interacting with computers with examples. This should be around 200 words with at least 5 hyperlinks.

Make sure that you label it appropriately: augmented reality, or 3d.

A New Way to Play: The Mgestyk 3D Camera

A New Way to Play

(1) The Mgestyk 3D Camera is a new gaming system that uses no remotes just your hands. This camera combines the technology of a a computer, an eye toy, itunes, and you. With this camera you can drive a car, shoot a gun, or select music all on your tv. A good tribute of this camera is if your younger brother or sister walk in front of you it still want mess up your game. The camera also works just as good in the dark as it does in the daytime. You can also play two player with someone with another camera and can battle your friends. This is a new way to play and looks more fun then playing with a controller.

(2)Technology controls and runs the world today, and with out it nothing would be the same. Today everyone has a cell phone, ipod, or some handheld electrical device and with out it your day to day life would change completely.

Our Life with Technology

(3)

A) Our culture today is centered around technology and the advancement of it. Every day we use some type of technology that gets us through our day easier and organized. Almost every person in the United States gets on a computer every day, and most of them do not know to work it properly and safely. Many people are getting new jobs do to new technologies that are used all around the world. The United States is controlled by technology and controlled by computers, which brings a higher demand for computer programmers and designers . In today's society technology is an important and growing network.

B) In today's government all of the senators, governors and even president are on the Internet. They use it for advertisement and to get the word out of what they believe and are trying to do in the country. Most of the government is on the web and most of the work that goes on, you can find on the Internet.
This also can cause a trouble, because with today's technologies in people can put a fake picture of anyone and use it in a bad way. Politicians also have to be careful of what they put on the Internet because if they put or say anything bad on it, it can be sent all around the country in minutes. Many scandals have broken out over the Internet and have cause huge problems for politicians. Today's technology can help advertise for somebody, but it can also bring them down.

A New World with Technology

(4) With this new technology it will change the lay out of our homes and rooms. With the need of more room around tvs the living room will be changed dramatically. There will be no need for a coffee table, and couches will have to be rearranged to be in front of the tv. Even with all these changes they will be for the better. There will be no need for remotes for every thing you have, and all you need is your hands. Another good thing is with the advancement in 3D cameras we can now practice how to drive a car on the computer. So now teens can practice more and will feel more comfortable when they get on the road. This also can help for pilots who are learning to fly to learn all the controls in a real life situation. This will save gas and be more safe for new pilots. With all these new technologies coming out everyday there is an endless list of improvements of everyday life.

Mgestyk

View more presentations from larkd.

Where will technology fly next?

Where will technology fly next?

The technology I presented was a new technology called Terrafugia. Terrafugia is a simple convergence of a car and an airplane. This device was engineered from MIT-trained engineers. It can run on the road and can fly in the air. It has many advantages. On the highway, it gets thirty-five miles per gallon. It can transition from car to plan in thirty seconds. It can fit in a regular garage. Terrafugia is planning on selling their technology in 2011. The purchase price is $194,000. With this technology, one could drive to an airstrip and take off into the air without even getting out of the car. This will definitely change the future of transportation. This technology is important, because people will get places quicker. Instead of spending so much money on airline tickets and standing in long security lines, people will be able to transition their car into an airplane in as little as thirty seconds.


Even though there are cars and airplanes now, this technology will still change our culture and the way we live. Transportation is a factor that is important in our society today. This technology can change the convenience of airplanes. In 2011, Terrafugias are hoping to sell cheaper, so more people will be able to afford one. Once more people purchase them, they will become easier to use because there will not be the hassle of finding an airstrip to take off on because more will be built. People will be traveling to further places more because of this convenience also.

Government and politics will definitely be affected by this new device. It will be used for military purposes. It will be much easier because they will not have to be exposed just to change vehicles. They will be able to just drive and fly without becoming open for target. Government and politics personnel can use it to transport people such as the President. It will also be a much cheaper way, because of the gas mileage it gets and instead of owning a plane and many cars, people will just own one. Terrafugia will be a much safer alternative for transportation.
Technology is a quickly changing factor in our lives and it always has been. Today there are many new technologies that some people can not even fathom the idea of it actually happening. Not to mention that people could actually see how it works. There are 3-D TVs that are making people nauseous just to watch. Just by wearing a pair of glasses, it seems that there are objects coming out of the screen towards the watcher. Holography is a big fad now also. People will actually be able to see a person with their real life features just by holography. Newscasters and sports channels will be able to show the occurrence and make it look like they are there or that they are playing on the field with them. There is also a new technology that is 3-D scanning. In airports, security will be able to see everything one has in 3-D which will a lot clearer to see. Inventions for homes are popular now. These inventions are a lot like robots. One can program to have the lights at a certain lighting and the air conditioning at a certain temperature for the exact time when they get home. As anyone can see, technology has come a long way and does not seem to be stopping any time soon.

Terrafugia

Kinect The Future of Gaming

The Technology

My technology was the Xbox 360 Kinect. Kinect is completely gestured based and is used to play video games in a new way. Video games played with Kinect are entirely motion based. The camera on the Kinect will capture the players movement and make the avatar do the same motion. Also in some games if another person wants to play a game and someone is already playing all the other person has to do is stand in front of the camera long enough for it to register him or her and the game will automatically go to spilt-screen.

The first game to show the ability to go to split screen was Kinect Adventures which is just a bunch of mini games where the object is to get as many pins as possible before the game ends. During Kinect Adventures a camera will take the player’s or players’ picture and then it can upload the photos directly to Facebook.

This technology is important because it is the first example of of gesture based computing that will be available to the public. Kinect had already showed the ability to mix the real world with virtual world when it was called Project Natal with the boy Milo who was able to interact with people as if he was a real person.


The Future of Gaming

Kinect will be one of the first gestured based devices that will be available to almost everyone. It will probably change the way people decorate their houses to give them enough room to move around and do the motions that Kinect requires. Kinect will also revolutionize the way people play games. So instead of using a controller the person’s body will act as the controller being able to use movements to do actions in game. Kinect also allows people to do video calls with other people with Kinect’s camera. During the video chats people can give each other things, whether be something like a photo, or a gift for a person’s avatar.

If Kinect has already eliminated the need for a controller to play video games, how much longer would it be before everything else is using the same concept? Some time in the future everybody will be using some type of gestured based or voice activated computing in their daily lives.

Who knows maybe someday the politicians could be able to stream and entire speech, and all they had to do to set it up was perform a few hand motions. While this would probably will not be done with a video game system, Kinect could inspired, or have been inspired by, similar technologies that can be used for the same purpose.

The Risk

With Kinect being the first completely gesture based video game system, Microsoft has taken a big risk with it. Will people be want buy something that they haven’t seen done before? Depending on whether or not people really get into this will determine how fast move in to a time where everything is gesture based. Soon people will be able to use a computer with out the need for a mouse or even a physical keyboard.

Impact

Soon people will be using computers in a different way. Instead of using a mouse and keyboard to operate a computer people will be able to use a computer using motion control. Instead of using Instant Messaging or Email to communicate with other people will probably be able to use live video chat to talk to friends and share things like videos and pictures by dragging them into the window.

Another thing that will change with our interaction with computer is voice activation. Right now there are some simple voice activation software is available but there are some bugs with them that have to be worked out like sound interference. An example of voice activated programing is Dragon Naturally Speaking which is one of the first voice activation programs made.

Kinect

View more presentations from wildcatv1.

The Future of Technology...In the Home

Technology in the home is evolving. We have an image of a super smart homethat responds to the way we live, but also helps us evolve into the future. Many gadgets have been made to make life at home easier. Some of these gadgets include the DoorBell Fon and the Digital Nutrition Scale. The DoorBell Fon gives homeowners a way to answer the door with out going to the door itself. It combines your telephone with your doorbell. When someone rings the doorbell, a personalized tone plays and you simply answer the phone to talk to the person at the door. With the Digital Nutrition Scale, you place your selected food item on the scale and it will give you the nutrition information just like the item’s container would.

The Importance...

The importance of these technologies is that improvements in the home are being made. It is not something that we have to wait on to happen. It is happening right now. These simple convergences show us that much bigger ideas can come to life.

How Will It Affect...

The future of technology in general will affect our culture and how we live in a positive way. We as humans are always out on the prowl for the next greatest thing in life. With convergence, we have the opportunity to create things that make life easier and fun. Our culture will become more and more dependent on the technologies that we create to replace the old way of life. We will be broadened, in that we will have connections with the world. Our way of life is not going to poof over night, but it is being altered as we speak. Slowly but surely we are shaping the ways of tomorrow.

The Impact on the Government and Politics...

The impact on the government will be big. All areas of our government will have to alter rules and laws. The new technologies coming into being, are changing the way we live, which ultimately changes the way our law enforcers live. They will also need new technologies so that they will be able to keep up with the citizens of our changing world. Politics is another area that will be affected. Campaigns and businesses will compete with the latest and greatest of technologies so that they can be the ones on top. The way that politics are will be changed as well. The whole political dynamic will have to converge with the changing planet. We can see these changes happening everyday. The government will have to be in the know or mayhem may occur.

Our Interaction with Computers...

Interaction with our laptops and computers has been around from the beginning. For instance, gaming systems are changing to allow the gamer to be the controller. Programs like this include the XBOX 360 Kinect. With this gaming system you become the controller and can move about in an open area to play as yourself in the game itself. Another major part of the way we use our computer and other devices is the use of Virtual Reality. Examples of virtual reality are being used for advertisement purposes. Olympus has a way for you to try out their cameras by simply printing out a picture of the camera and placing it in front of your webcam. It then allows you to take pictures and video just like you would with the actual camera. Other ways virtual reality is coming more into our life is with QR Codes. Basically these barcode-like patterns link you to websites that pertain to the advertisement or program the code is attached to. These are mainly found in magazines and catalogs. Technology will take us as far as we are willing to take risks and work out the kinks to make them the better than they can be. Our interaction with computers will eventually become a part of everything we do. Even the simple daily tasks will have be connected to our computer.